Time Will Tell
by Sanumarox123
Summary: "Shh, enjoy your rest, darling. We'll discuss this tomorrow. I'll stay here, okay?" He gently kissed her forehead. "I'll always be here." Completed 3/16/13- Now dedicated to livialovesdelena.
1. Part 1

**This is my new two-parter for DE. **

**I wrote this about 7 months ago- so some things may be different (especially how I imagined S3 and S4 to begin)**

**Based on end/middle of Season 3 to the beginning of Season 4… **

**I don't know when I'll update again, (hopefully soon!) but I have two concerts in the next week and I really need to practice.**

**I do not own TVD, or anything except my brain.**

**Rating might go up to M in Ch 2… and I'm freaked out because of that. I've never written M before. I'll have to see if it fits, because I still need to fix some writing issues.**

**So… here goes!**

_**Caroline's POV/No one's**_

They tried to avoid each other after Stefan left, dancing their own separate dance. The drastic change in their already fragile relationship was blatantly obvious to everyone, and the one way to control his and her emotions was by no contact whatsoever. But no matter how much they tried, the two of them couldn't keep their hands off of one another.

During the day, it was the secret glances and little brushes of hands while slipping past each other. At night, the absence of Damon at the boarding house and no Elena at the dinner table answered many questions.

One night, Caroline went over to Elena's house to check on how she was doing, and when she walked up the winding stairs as quietly as possible and opened her best friend's bedroom door, she found Elena lying on Damon's naked chest, under the covers. Probably clad in nothing but her undergarments, Caroline thought.

The blonde vampire never mentioned this fact to anyone, and the next day the duo acted like nothing had changed.

x-x-x-x-x

Soon, little by little, the 'road trips' grew more and more frequent, with the vampire and human claiming they needed to "find Stefan". The couple went away for lengths at a time, and each time came back with the heated tension between them stronger and thicker than before. The furtive gazes and the tender and loving motions exchanged between Elena and Damon grew at an alarming rate, and finally Caroline had enough.

She confronted Elena, and even though the girl denied everything, Caroline couldn't help but feel that there was more truth behind everything.

x-x-x-x-x

After Caroline's talk, Elena started to hang out with other people from their school, her old cheerleading friends. Caroline saw less and less of her best friend, and Damon, whom she was stuck with until her mother decided to let her back in her own house, grew more sullen and moody by each growing day. He congested un-normal amounts of alcohol, even for him, and by the time Elena visited at night, he was already lying in his bed, nursing his new (and old) hangovers.

It was the night of an especially brutal practice when Elena snuck upstairs after Caroline said good night and had gone into her own guest room. She let herself into his huge room and tiptoed to the bed where a certain dark haired, blue-eyed vampire was lying, pretending to sleep. She lied down next to him and after pushing her long brown hair away from her face, kissed Damon's collarbone. She made it to his chest before he flipped over as fast as any vampire could and took the girl of his dreams into his arms.

Neither got much sleep that night.

x-x-x-x-x

Three months after that night, on her 18th birthday, Elena collapsed in the middle of the Salvatore living room. Damon drove her to hospital while Caroline contacted Bonnie and Matt, who were with Jeremy, to come help.

It turned out that Elena was suffering from a big amount of blood loss and head trauma. Before the nurse could come and attach an IV to Elena's arm, Damon bit his arm and offered the girl on the hospital bed his blood, something he should've done a long time ago. She fed eagerly, and Caroline had to pull the two of them away from their close proximity in order to keep the scene a PG-13 rating. Damon refused to move, and leaned down to place his lips on their other half's, Elena's.

Jeremy stalked out, muttering in disgust, followed by Bonnie. Matt chuckled and walked out after that duo. Caroline turned away from the scene that was unfolding in front of her eyes, but stayed in the room and kept an ear open to listen to the now hushed conversation. She watched from the window's reflection.

Damon knelt down next to the bed and gathered Elena's hands in his own. As he smiled, he said lightly, "Well…"

Elena laughed nervously as she turned a bright pink, which was amazing considering the amount of blood she lost. "Shut up."

Then she turned serious. "Am I dying?"

Damon was silent for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully. "Technically, yes. But you're going to come back. Okay, 'Lena?"

A rustling of sheets was heard before Caroline could hear Elena's quiet yet sincere answer.

"I'm done with Stefan."

When Damon opened his mouth to contradict her statement, she hurried on, placing a finger on his lips. "Damon, listen to me. As long as you're there by my side, I'll be fine."

Damon laughed quietly and placed a quick kiss on his love's forehead. "I love you, you know that?"

Caroline, taking that as her cue to leave, quietly slipped out of the room's door. The two remaining members of the hospital room were in their own private world. They didn't notice, and as she was closing the wooden door, she could hear Elena's faint but determined voice that was losing its usual volume. "I love you too. I don't know why it took me so long to realize that."

"Shh, enjoy your rest, darling. We'll discuss this tomorrow. I'll stay here, okay?" He gently kissed her forehead. "I'll always be here."

Elena sighed, comforted, and all was quiet except for the soon steady breathing heard inside of the room. The breaths that slowly grew slower, and slower… until they stopped.

x-x-x-x-x

_They would always have problems with each other, but the one thing that really mattered in the end was their undying love for one another. And __that __made fighting for their relationship till the very end worthwhile. _

_x-x-x-x-x_

_**So… how was it? I would really like to know! This was originally a one shot but then I decided to make it a two thing.**_

_**I have another story for DE in the process, and it's based on a few lines of Ed Sheeran's "Kiss Me".**_

_**That should be up as soon as I finish writing its seven chapters. I actually write that story on Saturdays during break at Hungarian school… so… it's going to be a long time. I'm only on chapter 4.**_

**Until next time! **

**Reviews are a cookie to my stomach ;)**

**I'LL UPDATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. NO PROMISES, BECAUSE I AM HORRIBLE AT KEEPING THOSE. Well, those with deadlines.**

**~Allysa**


	2. Part 2

**Chapter two guys! I hurried… so… hope you enjoy!**

**I decided to add an epilogue… so this will be a three-part fic as it says in the description now.**

**Review, please :)**

**This chapter was tough… because I didn't know what to add and what not. It's half T and half M… kind of in the middle. It isn't just for mature readers, but it's not for inexperienced readers either… understood?**

**I have a comment at the end… check it out! It's about Nian… (For all the Nina/Ian fans out there, you know what that meant)**

**I do not own anything about TVD or the characters. I only own my thoughts that somehow form into words in my notebook.**

_Damon POV/No one's_

Six months had passed since Elena's transition, and it was still painful. Painful to watch Elena struggle with the cravings and consuming so much whiskey and alcohol that by the time she made it home, she was barely awake, although he had driven her. Even though Damon loved to watch Elena sleep peacefully in his own bed, and probably would like to stay there instead of having to go home in the dark, he knew that in the long run she would feel better in her own house.

That's how he always ended up sharing her bed at night. He had promised his disappearing brother, Stefan, who had shown up a month ago to apologize for everything before leaving again. He had promised to keep his distance, to let Elena figure out her own thoughts by herself, but Damon couldn't refuse Elena when she pulled his arm, motioning that she wanted him to stay with her.

_**x-x-x-x-x**_

Elena no longer went to school, even though it was her senior year. She continued her studies over in the library of the boarding house, staring outside longingly. Sometimes he sat down and asked her why she never went outside (for she had gotten a daylight ring, courtesy of Bonnie), but she always avoided his directness and instead quizzed him on the history of World War I.

She got her long hair cut to shoulder length and started to curl her hair, not as much as Katherine, but still adding waves to it. Once in a while she added colored hair extensions, which made Damon and Caroline discuss her abrupt and dire change in hushed tones.

_**x-x-x-x-x**_

A day soon after winter break, Damon was woken up by a great mass of limbs jumping on him, in his own bed for once. Bending down, purposely rubbing her lower body against his own, Elena whispered in Damon's ear,

"I'm bored… wanna have some fun?"

Unsure of what her exact definition of 'fun' was, but having a very good idea at the same time, Damon muffled a groan and pulled the girl off of him, getting up. He slipped on a pair of jeans that made Elena's face heat up and eyes darken at the sight of it. Damon felt a sliver of something he couldn't explain tremor through him.

Leaning close to where Elena sat in a crouching position, he whispered in a deep voice that erupted goose bumps on her thin body, "We'll see about that later."

Laughing to himself at the look of frustration on Elena's face, he walked out of the room and called down the hallway, "Now it's time for breakfast!"

Using vampire speed, Damon sped downstairs and by the time Elena came down in an outfit that made him wonder why he ever refused her, he was already flipping pancakes onto a plate.

Elena slid up next to Damon and wrapped her arms around his lean torso. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Caroline came barging in through the front door, followed by Bonnie. While Bonnie lingered back in the hall, Caroline stalked into the kitchen and dragged Elena away by her arm. Apologizing to Damon, the blond vampire plopped Elena down onto a couch in the living room.

Astonished, Elena looked at Caroline. "What the hell was that?!"

"That was me saving you from something you need to think over."

Caroline noticed a confused look growing in Elena's eyes, and explained what she meant. "I know you love Damon- God knows how many know- but you need to make sure you're over Stefan before you sleep with his brother as a vampire. Sleeping with another vampire when you're one too, it's different then as a human."

Patting Elena's arm while sitting down next to her, Caroline continued, "Make sure he's not just a rebound."

Elena growled to everyone's amazement and dropped her best friend's hand. Her confused look was replaced with one of pure anger. "I'M NOT. Seriously! Ever since Stefan left, I had time to realize that what I felt for him was purely brother-sister and family." She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "My feelings for Damon? That's totally different. His love just… consumes me in ways I never knew any could. He makes me feel whole, like now as a vampire, I still have a purpose in life." Elena nodded towards the open doorway where a certain blue-eyed vampire stood listening. "_That's _all I need."

Looking down at her blond friend, Elena's now calm brown eyes pleaded for her to understand. Resigned, Caroline gripped her best friend's hands and looked at Bonnie, who was slowly coming towards the scene. "Come on, group hug!"

Laughing, the trio hugged tightly. The first to pull away, Bonnie smiled lightly and said in a whisper, "Go get you guy. Go convince him."

Elena hugged her two best friends one more time before bouncing off into the kitchen on feather-light heels, her hair bobbing in time.

Caroline's blue eyes glittered with the matchmaking qualities she had in her, while Bonnie's brown eyes were soft with love and hope for her best friend. Both wanted their best friend to be happy.

Running into the kitchen, Elena couldn't stop smiling. As she flung herself into Damon's waiting arms, she knew she had made the right choice.

_**x-x-x-x-x**_

She knew that too when she pushed the raven-haired vampire onto his bed, tearing off their clothes in the process.

Right before they became one, before both felt at home for the first time in a long time, Damon breathed, "Are you sure? Because I can wait-"

Crashing her lips onto his and sinking down on him, Elena whispered back, "For once, time _won't _tell." Neither held back their groans as they felt the brilliant sparks and heaven come upon them as they moved together in sync.

At that moment, they knew they were forever.

_Time didn't tell for them at that moment._

_Time already had, from the very first glance._

_**x-x-x-x-x**_

**So… was that a good way to end it? I hope so!**

**The epilogue will hopefully be up before tomorrow's TVD!**

**Anyway, the note: I read somewhere on Twitter that both Nina and Ian smoke. Then I looked it up and found it was true. But Nina smokes more than Ian.**

**Weird… because his foundation (ISF) is based on the environment… and smoking is bad for it…**

**Anyway! One more Nian thing: (well two)**

Ian: I'm extremely romantic and don't doubt a second that Nina is the only true woman for me!

**Joy: What do you want to do in your future?**

**Ian: I want to be together with my girlfriend!**

_**BOTH DOUBLE AWW.**_

_**Anyway. Sorry for the extremely long AN. I'm just in a crazy sort of mood.**_

_**Bye! **_

_**REVIEW, GUYS! :)**_

_**-Allysa **_


	3. Epilogue

**This chapter is dedicated to Liv. She died nearly a month ago, but she will always remain in our hearts.**

_This is the epilogue to this story :)_

_I'm glad for the reviews and the favorites and follows I got! Thanks so much!_

_Anyway: (This chapter will be a bit shorter than the others, I had to write this today because I added this… it wasn't part of the original two parter.)_

_Thanks, guys!_

**I would like to say something: To Erin (who is continuing her best friend's FF story 'The Sire Bond'), now in charge of **_**livialovesdelena**_**, who used to be one of the most talented authors on this site: Liv will always be remember by us. I'm not sure if you will see this, but just know that we're praying for all of you. Thanks for talking to me! **

**I do not own TVD or anything but my brain.**

_**Epilogue**_

Life went by quickly after that night. Elena went back to school, to everyone's surprise. She graduated second in her class, right after Bonnie.

Bonnie got back together with Jeremy, who soon approved of Elena's relationship with Damon, seeing how happy she was with him.

Stefan came back eventually, already informed of his brother's bond with his ex. He somehow caught the eye of a new girl who arrived in town soon after him, who's name was Erica. They fell in love in an instant and became inseparable.

Caroline slipped her way back in Tyler's heart, and they got back together even more deeply in love than before. Her mother approved of Tyler, no matter what his heritage was, because her love for her daughter dominated any hatred for the supernatural.

Matt found a new girlfriend, who worked alongside him at the Mystic Grill. He was glad that for once, he could lead a normal life without any paranormal stuff going on, at least for a little bit.

After Elena graduated, Damon whisked her off to Europe, touring every country with deliberate fascination until almost six years had gone by when they settled in Italy. During the day, they blended in with the crowd, but at night…? That's a totally different subject. They loved each other more and more every single second, and even though a ring hadn't been put on her finger, they knew that they would last. (And, as Damon added, he'd last several times…)

The happy couple spent most of what would have been Elena's twenties in Italy, enjoying the views of Verona and Vicenza, and taking pleasure in each other's company.

_**x-x-x-x-x**_

On her '27th' birthday, Damon took Elena out to dinner. Already knowing Italian perfectly (vampires had a knack for picking up languages), they both ordered their food and turned to listen to the live band that was playing on the terrace. Elena could see a glint in Damon's eye, and even though she'd known him for nearly eleven years now, she couldn't help the nervous feeling that settled in her stomach. He turned to face her when the music died down a bit when the musicians took a quick break. His face showed exuberance, fear, and then finally calamity.

Their meals arrived then, and Damon didn't say anything for a while. They stared out at the river that was next to them and watched the lights from the light posts stationed around the street flicker and that image mirror itself onto the river. Damon suddenly leaned closer to Elena from across the table and slid his hand into his suit jacket's pocket. Elena gulped, all of a sudden unsure of everything in the world. In a blink, Damon was in front of her, on one knee, holding a beautiful diamond ring out to her. Love radiated off of him like a halo radiated off an angel, and that was exactly what he was to her: her angel.

Smiling nervously, he said, "Elena Gilbert, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Elena threw herself into Damon's arms, unable to say a word but expressing herself with her actions. She kissed his face ferociously, and they ignored the clapping going on around them, even as it grew louder and louder.

_**x-x-x-x-x**_

They got married three months later. It was a relatively small wedding, with only close friends and family invited. Even though Damon wanted a big wedding and Elena wanted a small one, and one wanted this and the other that, the two of them finally agreed to disagree and had Caroline and Bonnie plan their wedding.

Jeremy proposed to Bonnie that night, right before the toasts to the newlywed couple at the reception party. Everyone clapped and Bonnie was surrounded by hugs from her two best friends and Erica, and Damon, Matt, Tyler and Stefan clapped Jeremy on the back, nearly pushing him into the wedding cake.

For the rest of the night, every time marriage was mentioned, Caroline stared pointedly and made frantic eye contact with Tyler until finally he asked her why she looked like she was having a seizure. She huffed a sigh and marched into the other room, followed by Tyler calling for her to stop.

They got married a few months later, and adopted a child named Candace soon after that. They remained in Mystic Falls with Bonnie and Jeremy.

As for Stefan and Erica… she was already pregnant with his second child. They had gotten married soon after their first baby was born. They moved to Bulgaria, Erica's birthplace, and started a new life there.

Matt and his new girl continued to go out, until they broke up after almost five years together. He didn't seem too down about it, and cheerfully answered, "Oh, well better luck next time, eh?"

Damon and Elena continued to live in Italy, with frequent visits to Mystic Falls. Sometimes they met up with Stefan when he went to New Orleans for a business visit, but other then that, the only communication the two brothers had was by phone or Skype.

The four couples and Matt met up a few times a year for a reunion, all around the world. They stayed in touch, and all the friendships formed over the last decade remained the same for the rest of time.

_Fine_

**Well that ended differently than it did in my notebook. Oh well. I hope you liked the ending! **

**Guys- DELENA- THURSDAY!**

**I loved all the DE scenes from Thursday's TVD… especially the last one, but next week will be EPIC.**

**I wonder if Julie and Kevin want to kill us purposely.**

**Anyway! I'm going to try to get back onto tumblr after Tuesday (scholarship concert for violin), and try to update more often! **

**Because I did well in school, my mother gave back my Nook, and ALSO: I GET TO TAKE A ROAD TRIP TO GEORGIA DURING SPRING BREAK! ASJHDAKJSHD**

**I'm extremely happy.**

**Anyway! Review please!**

**Love you guys,**

**Allysa**


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